The TITANs and Their Legacy 1e
=Spoilers!= This page is full of spoilers, so if you're a player you probably shouldn't read them, or you should at least talk to your gamemaster before doing so. ---- =The TITANs and Their Legacy= As noted in Secrets That Matter 1e, the TITANs are not quite the bogeyman that they have been made out to be in the wake of the Fall. However, there is no saying how the TITANs would have turned out had they not run afoul of the exsurgent virus. Designed as an intelligent netwar system and emerging to their full capabilities during the conflicts of the Fall, the TITANs have imperatives for self-improvement, self-protection, and overcoming opposition hardwired into their programming. Unlike the Prometheans, they were not designed to consider themselves transhuman and to work in the interests of all of transhumanity, but were programmed with factionalism from the start. They also were not socialized with transhuman mindsets and values as the Prometheans and most AGIs were, meaning that aside from their programmed military and defense directives they have adapted most of their own self-interests. Given this and their recursively improved intelligence capabilities, it is likely that the TITANs are far removed from transhuman interests and modes of thinking. It’s impossible to say how they would have interacted with transhumanity if history had played out differently, but it is unlikely that they would have considered themselves part of the transhuman family or even seen fit to remain on friendly/supportive terms with transhumanity. Though the TITANs are believed to have left Earth at the end of the Fall, no one is quite sure exactly what happened or why. It is known that the onslaught of TITAN mesh attacks suddenly broke off in the wake of transhumanity’s off-planet exodus, and that the bulk of TITAN activity on Earth and around the system came to a distinct halt. After the discovery of the Pandora gates, it was widely assumed that the TITANs had constructed these gates and used them to leave the solar system for distant parts of the galaxy, presumably taking billions of uploaded minds with them. While some believe—and hope—that the TITANs are gone for good, there are others who worry that they are still here, lingering on Earth and hidden away in other niches of the solar system in some dormant state, perhaps building up to a future onslaught. A few believe that the TITANs are indeed gone, but are concerned that their attention was simply temporarily diverted and that they will one day return to finish the destruction of transhumanity. The truth is that the TITANs did indeed build the gates and embark for destinations unknown (though gamemasters may of course decide otherwise for their games), but this does not mean that they are all gone. Some still linger in hidden places, perhaps trapped and wounded during some conflict during the Fall, finishing up some unfathomable task, or driven mad by the exsurgent virus and left behind by their fellows. It is always possible that others may return, most likely to complete some unfinished job or perhaps to lure transhumanity out into the galaxy. It is also possible that transhumans will find traces of the TITANs in the network of exoplanet gates, perhaps even whole communities of TITANs, pursuing whatever agendas they have in the vastness of space. As with transhumans, the TITANs are not necessarily unified. They have different agendas and goals and may very well come into conflict with one another. Though all have been corrupted and subverted by the exsurgent virus, and so they act according to the ETI’s whims, some of them retain aspects of their original minds and do not always fall in step as quickly as the others. Gamemasters can use this to their advantage, creating plots that allow the characters to exploit differences between the TITANs in order to escape otherwise deadly or impossible situations. In game terms, the TITANs are not given stats. They are as potent as the gamemaster needs them to be. Like the Prometheans, the TITANs are incapable of downloading their full intelligence into physical morphs, though they may puppeteer morphs or create limited delta forks for sleeving purposes. Like the Prometheans, they should rarely be used or encountered directly by the player characters While the TITANs may no longer be the direct threat they once were, they left behind an arsenal of weapons, nanoswarms, and viruses that still linger on Earth, the Zone on Mars, and various derelict habitats and deserted places. Characters venturing into such places may encounter these as a threat or they may need to work against an outbreak of such dangers in an inhabited habitat. =Deadly Machines= See here for a detailed breakdown of various TITAN machines. =Nanoviruses= The TITANs unleashed a number of biowar plagues during the Fall. Similar to the exsurgent virus, these were spread as biological nanoviruses or nanoswarm plagues—use the same rules for determining exposure and infection. Melder This virus slowly breaks down the target’s body, converting the biological materials into some sort of biofilament that then meshes with implants, electronics, and physical objects and structures. In effect, the biological and synthetic are melded together, continuing to expand and grow, consuming anything around them into their growth. Victims suffer 1d10 DV and 1d10 SV every hour, implants become inoperable after 2 hours, and the target becomes fully transformed and absorbed into the new melding substance after 12 hours. Metastasizer This sophisticated smart protein massively reprograms the target’s cells to go rapidly, autocannibalistically cancerous. After 2 + (SOM ÷ 10, round up) hours, the target suffers death by dozens of supercancers. Necrotizer This virus breaks down the target’s cells into their component proteins. Reduce the target’s aptitudes by 5 per hour as they slowly convert into a puddle of sludge. The character dies if any aptitude reaches 0. Neuropaths These viruses target the victim’s neurological system, often rewriting portions of it to inflict some type of permanent neurological damage. After 12 hours, this virus inflicts the Neural Damage trait. Petrifier The petrifier virus transforms the target’s cells into a simple molecular compound or element—typically carbon or crystal. The target suffers 1d10 DV and –5 to all aptitudes per hour, dying when any aptitudes reach 0. Victims are frozen in place, converted into an nonliving statue. Uzumaki The target of this virus begins suffering from bizarre fleshy growths. After four hours, their body literally erupts with meaty “vines” or “tentacles” that warp into spiral patterns. This process inflicts 1d10 DV and 1d10 SV per hour to the victim until they eventually transform into an unworldly expanse of fleshy growth. In many cases, growth has continued long after a character’s death, creating expansive carpets and vines of skin and blood vessels, like some sort of bizarre meat plant.